Safety ladder



Jan. 23, 1945. MARSH 2,368,081

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51 fien vv jcffi/farsh wl w H15 ATTORNEY Patent ec] Jan. 23, 1945 UNIT ED STATES Pi iTE NT O F F I C E SAFETY'LADDER;

Gerald M. Marsh,,ElCe1-rito; Calif;

ApplibationAugustBO, 1943, Serial'No. 500,516

4 Claims.

This invention relates to ladders. particularly to. vertical ladderssuch as ladders onshipswhich are secured. to bulkheads or. the sides of.hatches; also to fire escape ladders, and others where. per.-sonscarrying materials or through lack of experience are in danger offalling; andtheinvention has for its object the provision of a specialhand railto make the use of such ladders safer.

Particular features and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a front view of a ladder equipped with my safety railimprovement.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view, the plane of section being indicatedby the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section of a modified form of my safety rail andladder combination.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the upper end of a ladder equipped with mysafety rail showing an optional way of securing it by use of a specialsupporting rung.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view, the plan of section beingindicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Before describing the invention I may state that I am well aware of theuse of hand rails on stairways and on angularly positioned semi-ladders,i. e., with broad treads like those used from the bridge on shipboard,also angularly disposed fire-escape ladders, but on vertically disposedladders such as those fastened to the walls of vertical shafts in shipshatches, or vertical fire-escape ladders or painters ladders hand railsare not used as the user of such ladders is supposed to grasp the rungsabove or grasp the ladder side rails to keep from falling.

However, with'the present rapid construction of ships and the generaluse of the vertical hatch ladders for thousands of workmen climbingthese ladders in three shifts daily, many accidents occur, especiallysince the side rails of such lad ders are of sharp cornered angularsteel with supporting brackets riveted or roughly welded to them at manypoints. The rungs are generally of square steel set at an angle to bringa sharp corner uppermost, and are soon covered with grease and dirt fromthe mass of workers shoes so that a good grip on them is almostimpossible. Besides the above dangers, the fact that in a large ship thehatch ladders extend vertically for about seventy feet, adds to thedanger that a slip. pery grip on a dirty and greasy rung will cause aplunge to the bottom. These hatch ladders are generally in individuallysealed vertical chutes or hatcheseach about. 2! 6 wide by 3 0". long andwith. av water tight door from. each deck, tho some. only have. oneentrance atthe bottom;

Itiwas-dueto the constant danger in the daily use. of these ladders bythe shipworkers that I devised a: special. hand-rail which greatlyminimizes the dangers pointed. out. This special hand-rail can begrasped by at least one hand of the:climber,. who need not'let go of itfor at least the height of one or two, or perhaps three decks, or for aslong a distance as the stiffness of the rail permits the absence ofintermediate hand-rail supports. Preferably this special handrail islocated in the middle of the ladder between its regular side rails sothat the feet of the climber are disposed on opposite sides of thespecial hand-rail. The hand-rail should be as close to the rungs as willstill provide liberal clearance for a persons hand when sliding it alongthe rail .without having to let go at any time, except when the end ofthe ladder or a.

support for the rail is reached. Such a safety rail permits a worker toloop his belt under it, and then use both hands to carry a load withoutdanger of falling. Preferably such a safety rail is kept within thetotal thickness of the ladder; and this is easily done by having theladder rungs bodily ofiset rearwardly under the safety rail as shown inFigs. 1 and 4 of the drawing.

In all figures of the drawing the ladder sides or side-rails aredesignated I, the rungs 2, and the safety hand-rail 3. The side railsare generally of flat steel or steel angle bars; and the rungs of squareor round steel are generally welded to the side rails or immovablyheaded over. as at 4, Fig. 3. The side rails of vertical ladders aregenerally spaced outwardly from the wall or bulkhead 5 by angle ironbrackets 6, or by any other means to provide sufficient toe clearance.

If the ladder has straight rungs 2 as shown in Fig. 3, the safety rail 3may be centrally located between the side rails I and spaced outwardly adistance X of about two or three inches so that a hand grasping thesafety rail can slide along it past the rungs. The safety rail issupported at its extreme ends by a bracket or integral foot connectionI, secured to the bulkhead 5 by bolts 8. It is desirable that the safetyrail be as stiff as possible to prevent too much deflection in longunsupported runs, and while it may be solid metal or any other suitablematerial, and of any cross section, I'prefer it to be made of pipe witha rust-proof metal exterior or enameled, and that it be filled with anysuitable cement, plaster or other rigid mixture to make it as rigid aspossible. A wooden rod forced into the pipe will greatly aid incontributing rigidity.

In the showing of Figs. 1 and 2 each rung 2 is formed with a rearwardlybent offset ID in its center to give hand clearance under the safetyrail 3 yet permit it to be placed close to the plane of the ladderrungs, and thus keep the safety rail within the total thickness of theladder. This is an important point in shipping and storing such laddersbefore installing.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the safety rail 3 is about the same length overall asthe ladder side rails I so that the ladder can be used as a separateladder for any purpose. Each end of the safety rail is preferably curvedbackward in a goose neck H and bifurcated in terminals l2 secured to theadjacent rung on or near its offset portion l0.

Instead of securing the upper and lower goose neck of the safety rail tothe upper and lower rungs of the ladder as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, aseparate and larger or flat rung [3 may be provided, as shown in Figs. 4and 5 back of the first and last ladder rung with its upper edge in linetherewith so as not to interfere with the climbers toes. The rear end ofthe goose neck H is provided with bifurcated arms I 4, secured by boltsl5 or by rivets or welding to the special rungs l3 as indicated.

I claim:

1. A ladder provided with a longitudinally extending substantially rigidhand rail positioned between the side rails of the ladder relativelyclose to the outer surface of the rungs of the ladder While preservingsufficient clearance for a climbers hand to clear the rungs whilegrasping the underside of the rail.

2. A ladder comprising side rails, rungs connecting the side rails andhaving rearwardly offset portions intermediat'e'their ends, and a safetyrail fixed with reference to the ladder and extending longitudinallythereof between the side rails and adjacent the offset portions, wherebya climbers hand grasping the safety rail clears the rungs.

3. A ladder comprising side rails, a safety rail extendinglongitudinally of the ladder and fixed between the side rails andsubstantially in their plane, and rungs connecting the side rails andhaving portions offset rearwardly to clear the safety rail.

4. A ladder comprising side rails, a safety rail extendinglongitudinally of the ladder between the side rails, rungs connectingthe side rails and having portions offset rearwardly to clear the safetyrail, and means including end rungs of the ladder for fixing theposition of the safety rail relative to the side rails.

GERALD M. MARSH.

